How To Use Excuse In A Sentence

We would have make it earlier, but I procrastinated with completed and sealed ballots sitting on my desk for a couple of days -- no good excuse, but the reminders to spare the GOTC callers (and ourselves) reminder calls goosed me into action. BlueOregon
He'd come up with some charming excuse: he'd left his long filbert brush, he couldn't go on without it.
She cast about for some excuse for refusing his proposal.
Mariah excused her for doorbell duty and we all lounged out on the floor and sofa.
Neither does it give them excuse for committing imprisonable crimes or for not making efforts to work to support themselves. Times, Sunday Times

He made a poor joke or two and an excuse to leave. Times, Sunday Times
Make polite excuses but don't go. The Sun
We have seen how law and theory unite to provide a list of excuses which rebut the normal presumption of voluntariness.
Country folk in both the United States and Mexico often live under unfortunate circumstances but that does not excuse your belittling them because you consider yourself to be "highborn". Small town living
All recycling will be collected from the kerbside, so there will be no excuse whatsoever for people who claim that recycling is too much effort.
There can be absolutely no excuse for the government to avoid reforming these corrupt institutions.
Is this another case of special people being excused from the standards they demand of everyone else? The Volokh Conspiracy » Goodwin Liu’s Incomplete Questionnaire
Note that there were the usual raft of excuses and alibis following the failures.
Never complain, never explain. Resist the temptation to defend yourself or make excuses. Brian Tracy
The only defender with a legitimate excuse is CB Ryan McNeil, who is playing with a soft cast on his fractured forearm.
It will be an excuse for me to write ecstatic repetitive cells of music. Times, Sunday Times
He was excused as physically unfit for duty.
Mark was palmed off with a series of excuses.
I am convinced that what there is of good in that theory of reform of our evils is not advanced toward embodiment in our law by the character of the men who make the Chicago platform an excuse to get the public confidence and carry out schemes of public plunder, political corruption and miscellaneous incivism. The Complete Works of Brann the Iconoclast, Volume 10
And when he was before the prince, he excused himself so sagely that the prince and his council held him excused, and so he fell again into the prince's love and redeemed out his men by reasonable ransoms; and the chatelain was set to his ransom of ten thousand franks, the which he paid after. Chronicle and Romance (The Harvard Classics Series)
Before she could announce me, I retrieved the coat, muttered a few feeble excuses, and ran.
But the organist made his profession clear by explaining that the committee had just invited him to oblige the company with a solo on the piano, but that he had been hitting the champagne so hard that he doubted if he could tell the keys from the pedals, and he added that if they'd excuse him he would go to sleep, which he immediately did with his head on the shoulder of the lady recitationist, who tactfully tried not to notice that he was there. Cinderella And Other Stories
So many people have easily given me that excuse. The Sun
A willful fault has no excuse and deserves no pardon.
Quit sitting around with your theological mystical excuses and get busy building the temple that I said would be the place my presence resides. Christianity Today
She excuses herself a moment to prepare a tray of little snacks they urge her not to trouble herself to prepare.
But that is no excuse for treating the scientist like a child who does not know what is good for him and must be protected by the parental arm of PC Plod.
Will they be used as an excuse to pull back from the ultimate goal, zero-emission engines?
A football match gives no excuse for wanton violence. The Sun
Excuse me. Is Shinjuku far?
Excuse me, but I'm afraid this is a no-smoking area.
Human reason can excuse any evil; that is why it's so important that we don't rely on it. Veronica Roth
Just because they can point to the prior administration and say they took wads of Enron money does nothing to excuse the republicans.
Or it might just be that it takes fewer drinks to get them sozzled, which is why they are constantly making their excuses to leave the party. The Sun
Just remember, training is never a bad idea, and you can use a new hire as an excuse to refresh the skills of longstanding staffers, too.
But that doesn't excuse the tribalism from the people with my skin color who want to deprive honest and hardworking people of the chance to make it in a free society because they don't happen to have a high-IQ. A Childish Question About Immigration, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
Biophilia, it's there in all of us, needing only a small excuse to come pouring out. Times, Sunday Times
But it is these days difficult to avoid the tangled mess of geopolitical analysis, so please excuse my taking liberties this week.
Please excuse my stomach rumbling - I haven't eaten all day.
Mary is so credulous that she may readily accept any excuse you make.
I mean, I’m sympathetic, but petulance is not an excuse here. Balloon Juice » Blog Archive » Reminder
one of the excused jurors planned to write a book
It was a miserable excuse for a meal.
Are there mitigating circumstances, or just a middle-aged roué's glib excuses?
Then before the week is out they'd ship you off to the poorhouse, or find an excuse to send you back to England. CONFESSIONS OF AN UGLY STEPSISTER
And my father was not to accept excuses about the strokes of bad luck or the bad weather.
Excuse my ignorance, but how does it actually work?
I was beginning to feel a little famished with all the smiling, dancing and chit-chatting, so I excused myself from my little group of friends to get myself some edible delicacies from the buffet table.
He was about to make his excuses when Mr Halloran asked him a peculiar question. DEATH OF AN UNKNOWN MAN
That mediocre, built-on-the-cheap excuse for a bypass is overdue for an upgrade.
The global excuse 'my brain made me do it' would reduce life to a condition of status epilepticus. Times, Sunday Times
I have got some piccies, but they are still in the camera - I'll try and come up with an excuse to use the rest of the film soon, and get a few on here so you can see them.
Deficit – An excuse to do anything really out of order, eg: "Yes, I did spill red wine on your new white carpet, but what you must remember is that Labour left that carpet with a deficit of red wine; my spillage was the only responsible course of action. The buzz words of 2010 explained
The absent are never without fault, nor the present without excuse. Benjamin Franklin
New TUC research smashes the myth that public servants are always on the lookout for an excuse to pull a 'sickie' and challenges claims that there are easy savings to be had from cracking down on absence in the public sector. Indymedia Ireland
But at the same time I don't think the current ordinary quality of political reporting can be excused on the basis of the concentration of commercial media ownership.
The only man who is really free is the one who can turn down an invitation to dinner without giving any excuse.
His excuse was not valid.
You did not excuse the wrongdoings of the executives involved in the recently uncovered corporate scandals.
Great God! Forgive an injury so wanton, so excuseless! To-morrow?
They refused to explain or excuse themselves, or their name. Times, Sunday Times
She is excused from attendance at the meeting.
A : Excuse me. This bus goes downtown , doe't it ?
She seized on every excuse to avoid doing the work.
I have ten thousand kinds of reasons to want to love you less now you can love an excuse.
The three-quarters of Montrealers without university degrees can be excused for feeling like deadbeats.
He's really upset, not ready to kick off just yet, but I'm not going to give him an excuse to start a barney by turning my back.
Excuse me? What did you say?
The doctors said this excuse was a red herring. Times, Sunday Times
But there were excuses for that poor run. The Sun
The difficulties encountered in investigations did not excuse wrongdoing on the part of gardaí, Mr McDowell said.
The Referees Committee was formed at a meeting attended by 17 referees with three excused, but to date there are still two referees who have not answered the call, or indeed, signified their intentions, one way or another.
This week a small army of lame excuses have limped into the news, one after the other. Times, Sunday Times
Clinton did not mispeak, she was again misinterpreted by the rabid Obama fans that look for any excuse to criticize her campaign. Clinton apologizes for RFK assassination comment
Mr Patel phoned the University for an explanation, and he was given the usual unconvincing excuses.
Convince a conservative that some southern sheriff is really using racial profiling as an excuse to harass black people and you will find that conservatives are just as outraged as anyone, but the mere potential for this to occur is no argument against racial profiling any more than the potential for a policeman to abuse his authority is an argument against having policemen. The Volokh Conspiracy » Affirmative Action and Racial Profiling Revisited
The non-intellectual wing of the Christian Right Community has committed a sacrilege and blasphemy, (to say nothing of the secular crime of high treason), because they have accepted the fiction of a cynical team of writers, who depict the god they describe as a homicidal, Demonic, maniac, and touted these despicable properties as "holiness," and used that as an excuse to support and urge the slaughter of their chosen Muslim fantasy enemies. THE SHAMELESS END-DAYS FICTIONAL REPLACEMENT FOR REVELATION.
Excuse my indelicacy, but how much are you worth?
`Excuse me, Gritkin, we are just carrying this treasure away to decontaminate it... ` KARA KUSH
I was beginning to feel a little famished with all the smiling, dancing and chit-chatting, so I excused myself from my little group of friends to get myself some edible delicacies from the buffet table.
The first project is usually a mess, with anxious students offering a wagonload of excuses: ‘My hard disk crashed.’
You can't keep using your bad back as an excuse.
Which has been improved by some, on this side the water, into an excuse for getting drunk every day in the week, for fear that the _specific day_ should be missed. The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 13, No. 352, January 17, 1829
Some pitiable excuses were pleaded, and in a great many instances it was said that lack of boots and clothing had compelled self-respecting parents to keep their offspring at home.
Excuse this maddish letter: I am too tired to write in formal -- The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5 The Letters of Charles and Mary Lamb
After Claire excused herself to run her unspecified "errand" - making Roger shudder only slightly-he and Brianna had driven to the pub, but then decided to wait for their supper, since the evening was unexpectedly fine. Dragonfly in Amber
I am sure you are, please find your seats and remember that newness is not an excuse for unpunctuality.
The truly free man is the one who can turn down an invitation to dinner without giving an excuse. Jules Renard
Violent husbands offer excuses that range from the wife not doing housework, her frequent visits to her parents' home, or refusing the husband's request for sexual congress.
Her first encounter excuse the pun , friendly encounter with Mumbai Police began from Mr Shatrughan Sinhas house , that she visits with me , she will salute and shake hands with his security the khaki force including the plainclothesmen sitting below. Archive 2009-10-01
So in March I decided to fill a sketchbook, 90 pages, with New Yorker-style cartoons—one cartoon a day for three months. No excuses.
That's a lame excuse.
There's no excuse for such behaviour.
Nothing can excuse his violent behaviour.
He was late, so he fabricated an excuse to avoid trouble.
Mary is so credulous that she may readily accept any excuse you make.
This helps you see through excuses and get the action you need. The Sun
The only man who is really free is the one who can turn down an invitation to dinner without giving any excuse.
He used to suddenly get excited, for you could tell that he was excited, and rhapsodize at the slightest provocation about baseball - all he needed was the slimmest excuse, and sometimes none.
So I had to cancel our booking and come up with a plausible excuse as to why we couldn't go any more. Times, Sunday Times
Excuses vary from difficulties in obtaining payment to the daunting prospect of completing export documentation.
When you abandon making choices, you enter the vast world of excuses. Wayne Dyer
The sorts of excuses we are seeing from George and his ilk are truly disgusting.
Paul:How about to my editor, the old curmudgeon? Excuse me. He took me off the Anaconda story. I'm a reporter at The Bee.
'I had too much stuff,' Rae told her, giving the ready excuse. FOLLY
He smiled to himself as he sensed Suzy soften at the excuse.
There is always an excuse to avoid doing the right thing. Times, Sunday Times
One should not plead inexperience in excuse of his mistake.
One of the most important human rights issues of the 21st Century is whether Israel's actions in defense of its citizens, or indeed its very existence, will provide the newest excuse for the oldest of bigotries. Alan Dershowitz: Yale's Distressing Decision to Shut Down Its "Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Anti-Semitism"
The usual excuse is that it does not conform with European law.
A police spokesman said he was angry over being expelled from school after forging a doctor's note as an excuse to stay off school and play truant.
This time the guilt was compounded by the fact that he planned to stay with Judith, with the communiqué as his excuse. THE SCAR
But fortunately their meal was ready now, which as a rule gave Fen an excuse not to talk.
The current absence of evidence from randomised trials should not be used as an excuse for neglecting basic care for patients with stroke.
Whether excuse or explanation, neither is valid. Times, Sunday Times
Although these factors are never an excuse for criminal activity, a judge can take them into consideration in exhibiting some leniency, especially if it is a first time offence or the offender has demonstrated rehabilitation. Don’t Do Mandatory Drug Sentences : Law is Cool
On the other hand, something that does need an excuse is calling someone an idiot for making a mistake. The Volokh Conspiracy » Competing Explanations for the Oppressive Nature of Socialism
A very straightforward narrative told with understated cinematic technique, this is not an excuse to show off how cool it can be to dismember a character using computer graphics.
Second, self-development and action learning were generally being used as an excuse for lack of real support for training and development.
For two days, I fielded his calls with excuses, demurrals and, when that failed, hang-ups.
Excuse me for interrupting, but I couldn't help overhearing what you were saying.
Excuse the pun, but this could make the biggest splash not only of his career but of any public figure coming out. Times, Sunday Times
Sexy does not have to mean stockings and suspenders or some feeble excuse for a top, with a teeny, weeny micro skirt.
The boss of the ballroom excused them the fee.
It was a lamebrain excuse on behalf of the Bahamian government to try to cut down on expenditure.
It's just an excuse to go out and get smashed .
Today this column makes no excuse for devoting the bulk of its content in tribute to Steve Webster, the 43-year-old North Yorkshire sidecar phenomenon and one of the most over-looked men in British sport.
And if you'll excuse the expression whiny ass titty babies on our side are ready to jump ship 6 months after we finally got some say so in the matter because we didn't kick their ass on the first Iraq war vote? Obtained: A Tape Of Reid's Conference Call With Bloggers -- Reid Did Blast Pace
A genuine initiative, or just another excuse for backslapping and all-star music line-ups?
She pretended illness as an excuse.
I made an excuse at the first possible moment, and got up to leave.
If God exists, I hope he has a good excuse. Woody Allen
`Well, if you'll excuse me, I've still got to restock the bar before we open. CODE BREAKER
The excuses and lies flew down one end of the line and were rebuffed from the other. Times, Sunday Times
Your mind is sharp so you see the difference between reasons and excuses. The Sun
Please excuse my stomach rumbling - I haven't eaten all day.
The feebleness of their excuse for abandoning their soi disant principles – a meaningless executive order – is all the proof one needs. Obama Nation
Apart from the clear failure to understand what the word 'leader' actually means, this is almost always only an excuse for inaction, which lets the financial sector off the hook while public services are slashed, the poor get poorer and the world heats up. Sarah Anderson: Europe Takes the Lead in Drive to Tax Speculators
It answers their need for an excuse to go straight, while not at the same time surrendering to the morality of a society they believe has wronged them deeply.
There's no excuse for wearing this many styles and clashing colours at once. The Sun
Excuse me to sound off, you're not right.
Excuse her bad manners.
Late again! What's your excuse this time?
There’s also something naughty and juvenile about Halloween that appeals to me … the idea of being 14 or 15 and on a “date” with a boy you have a big crush on and being at a scary haunted house and that being the perfect excuse to be scared and maybe flirty … if a 14 year old even really knows what flirty is (I know I didn’t). Halloween baby! « 1979 Semi-Finalist…
He excused his absence by saying that he was ill.
Good excuse to eat a few extra mince pies. The Sun
The only man who is really free is the one who can turn down an invitation to dinner without giving any excuse.
Anthony loved the excuse to chide, to mock, to exercise, in appearance, a little affectionate tutelage. IN LOVE AND WAR
He came out with such an elaborate excuse that I didn't quite believe him.
The policy of their chiefs has on this occasion been admired, and might surely be excused; but a pious baud is seldom produced by the cool conspiracy of many persons; and a voluntary impostor might depend on the support of the wise and the credulity of the people. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
The panic attacks gave her the perfect excuse, as no blame could possibly be attributed to her.
Now the congressmen are embarrassed and are coming up with all kinds of lame excuses to explain why they were there.
Their excuses cut no ice with people.
Perhaps someone could offer a reasonable explanation - not just a lame excuse - for this apparent cold, ungracious, disrespectful conduct and lapse in basic good manners?
No excuses are made for Ethan's infidelity and we do not have to sit through any long and emotional speeches about Harvey's unluckiness in love.
“There is no excuse for missing to pay salaries to soldiers in lawless eastern Congo for six months” said Sekombo. Global Voices in English » Disabled Congolese Find Ways to Thrive
Nor is he the victim of injustice or ingratitude that might extenuate, though not excuse, his later crimes.
With all the night school courses available, there is no excuse for not getting some sort of training.
If you can validate spending three times the cash for something a bit less wieldy in situations where you are constantly on the go, need it to be able to be used as a palmtop, etc, go ahead -- but for those of us using these, and able to enjoy them, the validationisn't there, and neither is it there for Apple's excuses as to why they won't create one of these beauties themselves. The Problems With A Hackintosh Netbook, Six Months Out | Lifehacker Australia
Russia and Gabon are blatantly banning all imports of the other white meat, while Egypt has ordered the mass-execution of all of their unhallowed hoggies (although this could merely be a convenient excuse to settle an age-old Islamic grudge -- why must unsanctified flesh taste so delicious!). Warren Holstein: Preparing for the Swine Flu Apocalypse
Idle folks lack no excuses.
gave the teacher an implausible excuse
This must be done in a way that does not excuse lazy or complacent money management. Times, Sunday Times
There is no excuse for mindlessly destroying public property.
There's no excuse for behaviour like that.
The excuses for their behavior sound similar to arguments made after the CME tried to push trading in Eurodollar options from the pit to the screen. The Volokh Conspiracy » The Goldman Fraud Suit
Being depressed doesn't give you an excuse to be so unthoughtful about others
Yes, ma'am," drawled the sheriff, "in them history days things was fixed up to excuse animal doin's, kind of neater and easier and more becomin 'than they are now. Snow-Blind
Please excuse any misquotes and the hasty sketch.
The media should refrain from reporting on events staged by politicians trying to excuse their own misconduct or making unfounded accusations.
Meanwhile, staff at the paper could be excused for wondering how their boss manages to edit the paper when he is so busy brushing up his broadcasting techniques.
They exchanged excuses and caresses with oriental demonstrativeness and verbosity. Salammbo
Privately, she was glad for the excuse to avert her gaze.
Myra had enclosed a quire of writing paper and three bottles of ink, no excuses for not writing now.
A girl-on-girl catfight, ironically enough, is the film's only moment of gender transcendence, effectively desexualizing a trope that has become little more than a choreographed excuse for women to rip each other's clothes off.
Walter Collier offered his services as an escort, only too pleased to find an excuse to avoid playing rounders. GOODBYE CURATE
Of all our faults, the one that we excuse most easily is idleness. Francois de La Rochefoucauld
What was clear from the dinner is that rising oil, gas and coal prices will accelerate such changes and will help, if you'll excuse the phrase, to 'decarbonise the economy'.
God is only a word bandied about by the pseudo-intellectual, an illusion nourished by the ignorant, a luxury cultivated by the rich and the famous and an excuse used by the shirker.
I don't mean to excuse the crimes committed in the name of anticommunism.
I'm looking to be entertained: boredom, tedium is the worst literary or filmic sin, and cannot be excused by a pretence to some spurious intellectual superiority.
Mary excused her absence by saying that she was ill.
Ava suddenly became busy tying the makeshift rope together, an excuse not to meet his smoldering gaze.
Excuse me, but are you Mr Honig?
Notes: Utah G Jason Hart was excused from the team to attend a funeral. ... USATODAY.com
You're not going to palm me off with that feeble excuse.
His excuse for drinking brandy is that it's said to aid digestion.
We excused it as deafness and persuaded him to buy an expensive hearing aid (which he then refused to wear). Times, Sunday Times
She seldom smiles and takes offense at the least excuse, crying rivers of tears and wailing.
There are no excuses for being overweight or obese. The Sun
My quest for shelter for all kinds of wildlife also means there's a good excuse for friends to give simple, but very welcome home-made birthday gifts such as the pictured ladybird (aka ladybug) and bee haven my friends S & L gave me last week. British Blogs
He bragged that the course which he claimed to be one of the best in the country, was in good shape and no excuse would be given by any golfer for failing to perform well.
And he should not be making excuses for his idiot cronies or relying on politesse and bureaucratic snafus to explain why he was late when the crisis hit.
Negative thinking is subtle and deceptive. It wears many faces and hides behind the mask of excuses. It is important to strip away the mask and discover the real, root emotion. Robert H. Schuller
What a feeble excuse for a song that is, a classic non-quorate affair covering three notes throughout.
Tyrannical and repressive non-colonial regimes might be supported if they could be presented as allies against Communism, but it was not always possible to go on making excuses for them.
He loved making a sleazy nightclub atmosphere: an excuse for expensive cigars and a lot of red wine.
I hope you'll excuse me for being so late.
Still, at least this answers ONE question I had during the campaign; Would Keith Olbermann keep his mouth shut or make excuses when Obama did something unconstitutional like every rightwing network screwhead did with Bush? Alex Jones' Prison Planet.com
The focus will be on smaller building societies, which are thought to be using rising prices as an excuse to relax lending standards. Times, Sunday Times

How To Use Excuse In A Sentence

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